The present invention relates to compositions composed of 1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl difluoromethyl ether and to the use of these compositions for the removal of water from the surfaces of objects of the most diverse type and from the most diverse materials.
In many processing and cleaning operations, for example in the electrical or electronics industry, the optics industry, or the mechanical industry during production of high-quality precision workpieces, objects come into contact intentionally or unintentionally with water or moisture. Consequently, water may adhere to these objects (for example as a film of moisture). However, the presence of the adhering water can have an adverse effect on further processing steps and/or on the functional capacity and service life of the objects. It is therefore necessary for many objects to be freed completely from adhering water immediately after the processing or cleaning operations which include the presence of water, or even after mere contact with atmospheric moisture and the like, before further processing or for functionally correct use.
The removal of water from objects is also referred to below as "drying". In the prior art, depending on the nature of the objects, they are dried by heating or by treatment with certain solvent compositions ("drying compositions") containing, for example, hydrocarbons, acetone, alcohols or completely halogenated fluorochlorohydrocarbons, which also contain surface-active substances. Since the objects to be dried can consist of the most diverse materials, for example of plastics, glass, metals or combinations thereof, the drying processes and the drying compositions used for drying must be compatible with a large number of materials However, drying by heating generally involves undesirably severe exposure of the drying objects to heat, or is unsuitable for a large number of materials because of the high temperatures which must be used. Also, in many cases it is not possible to dry in this way without leaving spots. In turn, the constituents in the drying compositions, especially the solvent which constitutes the main component, should be inert towards a large number of the most diverse materials.
Although many efforts have already been made to develop drying compositions having the desired properties for various fields of use and for various materials, such as, for example, a high drying action and drying quality and good inertness towards the objects to be dried, known compositions do not always exhibit the required technical and/or toxicological and/or ecological properties. For example, known prior art compositions frequently do not exhibit, or only inadequately exhibit, the high degree of inertness, drying action and drying quality which are required. Other known compositions comprise relatively large amounts of solvents which are toxicologically unacceptable or present possible safety hazards (e.g. due to their low flash points). Still other compositions comprise solvent constituents which, because of possible adverse effects on the environment, it is desirable to replace by other solvents which are at least equally suitable for the particular intended uses. Thus, there remains a need for new drying compositions having improved properties, which also exhibit better toxicological and/or environmental acceptability.